Summary: Bond's loyalty to M is tested when her past comes back to haunt her. Whilst MI6 comes under attack, 007 must track down and destroy the threat, no matter how personal the cost.

Skyfall
is the latest installment in the James Bond film series—the 23rd film in
the celebrated espionage franchise—based on British author Ian Fleming’s charismatic superspy, James Bond aka 007. Skyfall, directed by British filmmaker Sam Mendes, also
marks the 50th anniversary of Dr. No (1962) as well as the franchise.
The movie’s screenplay is written by the team of John Logan, Neal Purvis and
Robert Wade. With Skyfall, Daniel Craig becomes the fourth actor to make three
or more appearances as James Bond—the others being Roger Moore (7 appearances),
Sean Connery (6 appearances), and Pierce Brosnan (4 appearances). Veteran
English actress Judi Dench reprises her role of the MI6 supremo, M. Skyfall
also stars Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Bérénice Marlohe, and
Albert Finney in major roles. Skyfall marks the return of the 007 franchise
after a hiatus of four years—the long delay was caused by MGM’s pitiable financial
state—following the release of the 22nd Bond film, Quantum of Solace (2008). Skyfall’s plot basically revolves around a cat and mouse game played
between M, James Bond and possibly his greatest nemesis ever, the mysterious
cyberterrorist Raoul Silva—a ghost from M’s dark past who returns to
inflict collateral damage. As Bond hunts for Silva, he too must come to terms with his
nearly forgotten past while simultaneously trying to keep his loyalty for MI6
intact.

Daniel Craig as James Bond in Skyfall

Until
the late 90s, the 007 franchise immaculately fulfilled the sole purpose of
epitomizing style and glamour on the celluloid. Those were the days when 007
films were typified by a bunch of seductresses, loud-mouthed supervillains,
uber-fancy gadgets, and a spy who was closer to a superhero than a human. But,
as the audiences grew choosier and became more intelligent, it got more and
more challenging for the makers to keep them engaged using the old, time-tested
formulae. Following the dismal show ofDie Another Day (2002), the makers
finally decided to go for a major revamp. The charismatic Pierce Brosnan was
unceremoniously dumped and in came Daniel Craig. Craig, who became the 6th
actor to play Bond on the silver screen, made his debut with Casino Royale (2006). Casino Royale certainly lacked certain defining characteristics of a
quintessential Bond film. The CGI and VFX made way for some real action as
Fleming’s superspy became more rugged, fierce, fallible and hence more
realistic, the closest he had ever been to a human. And the result was
remarkable: Casino Royale became an instant success as the audiences all around
the world whole-heartedly accepted the new 007.

Ravishing Bérénice Marlohe as Sévérine in Skyfall

Despite
a relatively poor show, Quantum of Solace remained quite true to the transition
that had begun with Casino Royale. And there’s no surprise that Skyfall is
another step forward in that direction. In Skyfall, James Bond is more vulnerable
than ever. He is no longer the blunt instrument that he once was and has
finally learnt to keep a check on his ruthless aggression. Only a few vestiges
of his old self remain. He faces danger with an air of realism that one seldom
associated with his precursors. His loyalties and beliefs are put to test more frequently
than ever. He relies more heavily on hand-to-hand combat than gadgets. His
romantic involvements seem to be driven more by purpose than passion. In fact,
it wouldn’t be farfetched to say that Skyfall consummates the transitional
journey of 007 from the unreal to the real. Now that James Bond has finally
been grounded to a state of reality, he must also encounter the challenges of
the real world, make the choices that a human must, face the dilemmas of the
quotidian, and suffer the fate of a human being. James Bond does all this and much
more with absolute panache in Skyfall. Sadly, he does it so often and with such
conviction that it robs the film of any possible element of surprise. In fact, the
idea of a James Bond who like Nolan’s Batman/Bruce Wayne is the epitome of
selflessness is quite revolting in itself. But, what is outrageous is that Mendes
and his team top it up with a diabolical villain whose maniacal tendencies
mirror Heath Ledger’s Joker. This desperation for over-refinement on the part
of the makers undermines the movie’s otherwise brilliant setup.

Javier Bardem as Silva in Skyfall

Javier
Bardem without a shadow of a doubt is one of the greatest actors of our time. And
as a cineaste, it’s quite disconcerting to witness a nigh impeccable Bardem
performance getting downplayed because of its conspicuous similarities to
Ledger’s part in The Dark Knight (2008). However, there’s no doubt that
Bardem’s portrayal of the theatrical Silva is almost as menacing and chilling as
his Oscar-winning portrayal of a laconic serial killer in No Country for Old Man (2007). Daniel Craig delivers yet another solid performance that could very
well have been his best ever had it not fallen prey to the movie’s deliberately
over-refined plot. Ralph Fiennes is quite refreshing in the role of the enigmatic Gareth
Mallory and one can expect to see more of him in the forthcoming installments.
The new Bond girls, Naomie Harris and Bérénice Marlohe, are tempestuously
glamorous in their respective portrayals and more than make up for the lack of
oomph factor in the previous installment of the franchise. Judi Dench, despite
looking too old for her part, delivers yet another memorable performance as M. And then there is the Bond's youthful, cheeky quartermaster Q, playfully performed by Ben Whishaw—a part that that's highly reminiscent of Benedict Cumberbatch's portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in the the popular British television series, Sherlock. Mendes and his team elicit worthy performances from the rest of the cast with
special mention of veteran English actor Albert Finney as Kincade. Roger
Deakins’ exquisite cinematography seems quite appealing to the eye and is quite
easily one of movie's strongest points. Thomas Newman’s background music seems
quite dull and perfunctory for the most part with the exception of the original
song “Skyfall” sung by Adele.

Naomie Harris as Eve in Skyfall

Overall,
Skyfall serves to be a guilty pleasure that has something for almost everyone. The movie shows flashes of brilliance and despite falling short of the high expectations
that preceded its release it offers enough to keep the audience engaged throughout the runtime. Skyfall unquestionably is a significant improvement on Quantum of
Solace but clearly fails to match the brilliance of Casino Royale. Skyfall is
replete with high octane action sequences that take place in hottest locations spread across the globe:
be it the rooftops of Istanbul, the skyscrapers of
Shanghai, the underground tube train in London, or
the countryside in Scotland.
However, the most memorable part of the movie is its last quarter that takes
place in an eerie Scottish countryside. The suspense that gradually builds up
during it has a kind of raw feel that one generally associates with a quintessential
Norwegian movie. This rawness immensely adds to Skyfall’s cinematic quality. In
Skyfall, Mendes and his team have tried quite hard to create the balance
between the “old” with the “new” of the 007 universe. Skyfall pays homage to
some of the early Bond films and even holds a few surprises for the diehard fans
of the 007 franchise. And while it’s nearly impossible to overlook the obvious
shortcomings, Skyfall none the less is a commendable attempt that ought to give
a whole new direction to the forthcoming Bond films. While those on the lookout
for some thought-provoking cinema can quite easily afford to give Skyfall a miss,
it's a must watch for those whose sole purpose is entertainment, for the movie
offers it in plenty.

28
comments:

I only skimmed through because I actually plan on watching it, but it's nice to see a more down to Earth score than what I've been seeing around the blogosphere. Nice one.

PS. If I may offer one little piece of advice/observation about your layout. It can be a little difficult to read a center-justified block of text when the column is as wide as it is here. Sometimes readers (ie: myself) will lose track of where the next line begins when there is no visual reference point. It might not look as neat and symmetrical, but it would improve readability if your articles were left-justified instead.

I didn't like Quantum of Solace at all. I wonder what to make of a conspiracy about cornering the drinking water in Bolivia. It is strange that the same writers who wrote Casino Royale and Syfall could write that film as well. Of course that film was also co-written by Paul Haggis (of 'Crash' infamy) but when the same writers produce great stuff and abysmal stuff, one wonders if they know what they are doing!!

After the great revival of the Bond franchise with Casino Royale, I too thought that Quantum of Solace was a major disappointment. The screenplay, editing, and cinematography were indeed quite shoddy. And since I have been lucky enough to watch Cronenberg's Crash, I can very well relate to your aphorism.

I thought that qos was a letdown film comparing to the excellent casino royale until i watched skyfall. At least qos did not make me fall asleep while watch it. I love cr, a bit disappointed with qos but truly dislike skyfall. I rather to see qos as an entertaining movie rather than the lastest installment of the franchise. Skyfall infact has great potential to be a good or even great film. But the script just could not shake up all the good ingredients together (i.e good performances,exciting opening scene, gorgeous scenery, new characters). I hardly believe the critics could give it so high rate.

I felt that Skyfall was a truly serious and mature Bond movie, and after watching it I now feel that the older Bond movies of Pierce Brosnan are merely cartoonish... I enjoyed the brilliant cinematography and the reliance of doing things "the old way".. however, I respectfully disagree that DC is the best Bond; he cant emote very well and is more suited to action sequences like in Casino Royale. Also, I didnt feel Javier Bardiem was trying to ape Heath Ledger. I felt Javier was most terrifying in No Country, and that his performance wasnt nearly terrifying.. that said, Skyfall is wonderful but still second to me compared to Casino Royale .

Thanks Rajiv for sharing your valuable thoughts. While I think that you have been a bit too harsh on the classic Bond films featuring the likes of Brosnan, Dalton, Moore and Connery, I do get your message. And you are right that Javier Bardem's performance in No Country for Old Man was quite unparalleled. Also, I agree with you that while Skyfall was quite good overall it significantly fell short of Casino Royale's brilliance.

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About Editor-In-Chief

Murtaza Ali Khan is an independent film critic, journalist, columnist, and blogger based out of New Delhi, India. He is the Founder/Editor-in-Chief of the award-winning entertainment blog A Potpourri of Vestiges. He is the Co-Founder of Ed Wood Productions. He has been writing movie reviews at IMDb for over seven years. He is a Columnist at The Huffington Post. He is a Guest Columnist at Cafe Dissensus (New York) and has contributed to publications like The Hindu and The Quint. Previously, he has also contributed to sites like Desimartini and Jamurra Blog. He is also on the guest panel for live discussions on the television channel News X.